Thus, in these two verses, Allah, glorified be He, makes clear that faith and guidance were attained through the revelation sent down, not through reason alone, which was already present before revelation.

People disagree concerning knowledge: is it attained through revelation or through reason? And is the obligation to acquire it established by revelation or by reason? Disagreement over these two questions is widespread among the various schools, including the followers of Ahmad and others.

There are two well-known views on whether reason can discern the goodness and badness of things, and what is obligatory and forbidden:

The first is that reason cannot discern these matters. This is the view of al-Ashʿarī and his followers, Ibn Hāmid, Judge Abū Yaʿlā, Judge Yaʿqūb, Ibn ʿAqīl, Ibn al-Zāghūnī, and other followers of Ahmad, as well as many followers of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and others.

The second is that reason can discern these matters. This is the view of the Muʿtazilah, the Karrāmiyyah, and others. It is also the view of Abū al-Hasan al-Tamīmī, Abū al-Khattāb, and other followers of Ahmad.

Abū al-Khattāb stated that this is the view of the majority of scholars. It is also the view of many leading hadith scholars among the followers of Ahmad and others, such as Abū al-Qāsim Saʿd ibn ʿAlī al-Zanjānī and Abū Nasr al-Sijzī. It is likewise the view of many followers of Mālik and al-Shāfiʿī, and it is the position stated by the followers of Abū Hanīfah, who also attributed it to Abū Hanīfah himself.

This issue, with its various distinctions, has been discussed at length elsewhere.

Likewise, on the question of whether knowledge is attained through reason or through revelation, there is